Construction system

ABSTRACT

Construction system consisting of a flat main body having recesses at its edges and a centrally-hinged connecting member having opposed parts that fit in the recesses.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 13,086 filed Feb. 21, 1979.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many situations in modern society where it is desirable tohave a light-weight construction system for structures which can bedisassembled and converted to a compact condition for transportation andstorage. For instance, in connection with advertising displays forindustry fairs, the persons responsible for arranging and setting up adisplay may be required to do so in geographical locations which are farapart; the locations may be quite diverse in other respects. Since thedisplay must be carried by airplane or carried manually some distance,it is desirable that the construction system incorporated in the displaybe light in weight and compact. Furthermore, it must be capable of beingre-assembled in various display areas in different ways to compensatefor the variations in the display area available at the various fairs.In some locations, the display area may consist of a booth or recess,while in other cases the display may be free standing, i.e.,approachable from all directions so that the nature of the display is tobe of a semi-permanent nature as, for instance, in the display of goodsin a retail establishment, these attributes of lightness, compactnesswhen disassembled, and versatility in assembly are desirable. Those samequalities which are desirable in the advertising and business world arethose which are also desirable in educational kits and toys forchildren. In the past, structures having the above enumeratedcharacteristics have been expensive, difficult to assemble, easilybroken and rendered inoperative, and have not had a pleasing appearance.These and other difficulties with the prior art devices have beenobviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide aconstruction system for structures which is light in weight and whichcan be disassembled to a compact form for storage and transportation.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of aconstruction system for use in displays or the like in which a varietyof structures can be formed from a small number of basic parts.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of aconstruction system permitting the formation of a strong temporarystructure by combining a number of elements selected from two simplebasic parts.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a displaystructure formed from a number of light-weight elements formed of paperand foamed plastic, the elements being relatively inexpensive so thatdamage, wear, or discoloration of an element can justify it beingdiscarded and replaced.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of aconstruction system of great versatility, wherein the elements can beassembled in a variety of ways to suit the function, space available,and the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a construction systemwhich is inexpensive to manufacture, which is simple and rugged inconstruction, and which is capable of a long life of useful service witha minimum of maintenance.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide aconstruction system which can be assembled by persons having littlemechanical appitude and without the use of tools.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of partsset forth in the specification and covered by the claims appendedhereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general, the invention consists of a construction system formed froma plurality of main bodies, each of which is made of a light-weight,flexible material having a plurality of sides, each side having atriangular recess, and of a plurality of connecting members, each ofwhich has a hinged line dividing it into two parts, each part being atriangle that fits snugly into one of the said recesses in the mainbody.

More specifically, each main body and each connecting member is formedfrom a sheet material consisting of two layers of paper between which issandwiched a layer of flexible, foamed plastic. The main body is squareand consists of two such sheets held in spaced-parallel relationshipwith a cruciform intermediate member sandwiched between them to define atriangular recess opening on each of the four edges of the main body.Each recess is twice as thick as a connecting member. The connectingmember is generally square in shape with beveled corners and thediagonal hinge line is formed by a scoring of the material on each side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood byreference to one of its structural forms, as illustrated by theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a construction system embodying theprinciples of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the two basic elements of thesystem,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main body,

FIG. 4 is an edge view of the main body,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the main body taken on the line V--V ofFIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a connecting member,

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the connecting member taken on the lineVII--VII of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is an edge view of two main bodies connected in the same plane bya connecting member,

FIG. 9 is an exploded view showing the manner in which the main bodiesand the connecting member in FIG. 8 are joined,

FIG. 10 is an edge view of two main bodies connecting in angularrelationship by a connecting member,

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the two bodiesin FIG. 10 are connected angularly by a connecting member,

FIG. 12 is an edge view of three main bodies connected to form aT-shaped structure using three connecting members to join them,

FIG. 13 is an exploded view showing the manner in which the three mainbodies in FIG. 12 are joined by the three connecting members,

FIG. 14 is an edge view showing the manner in which three main bodiescan be joined by connecting members to form a Y-shaped structure,

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the mainbodies and connecting members of FIG. 14 are joined,

FIG. 16 is an edge view showing the manner in which four main bodies arejoined to form a cross-shaped structure,

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the four mainbodies in FIG. 16 are joined by four connecting members,

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing the manner in which five mainbodies are joined by connecting members and fiber elements to form anopen-sided cube,

FIG. 19 is a plan view of a support element forming part of theinvention, and

FIG. 20 is an elevational view showing the assembly of the supportingelement with a main body.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein are best shown the general featuresof the invention, the construction system, indicated generally by thereference numeral 10, is shown in use in displaying items 12 with asales person 11 in attendance. The display structure shown is generallypyramidal in shape and accessible from all sides, but it will beunderstood that the specific form of the structure may take any one of alarge number of forms.

FIG. 2 shows in perspective the important elements of the constructionsystem including a main body 13 and a connecting member 23. The mainbody 13, whose details are best shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, is shown asbeing plate-like in nature and in the form of a square having four sides14, 15, 16, and 17. These sides are provided, respectively, withtriangular recesses 18, 19, 21, and 22. The connecting member 23, whosedetails are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, is also shown as being plate-like inconfiguration and in the shape of a somewhat smaller square with beveledcorners. Extending diagonally from one corner to an opposite corner is ahinge 24 which serves to divide the connecting member into twotriangular parts 25 and 26.

In FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 it can be seen that the main body 13 is formed oftwo-spaced parallel sheets 31 and 32, between which is sandwiched acruciform intermediate element 33. Each sheet is formed of a thinmaterial formed as two layers of cardboard between which are sandwicheda layer of resilient foamed plastic; this material is availablecommercially under the name "FOAM COR" manufactured by Monsanto Company.The cruciform intermediate element 33 is made of two such sheets, sothat the recesses 18, 19, 21 and 22 are twice as thick as a sheet.Because of the nature of the cruciform intermediate element 33, therecesses are triangular in shape and approximately the same size as eachof the parts 25 and 26 of the connecting member 23.

Referring next to FIGS. 6 and 7, which show the details of theconnecting member 23, it can be seen that the member is made of the samesheet material as the main body, that is to say, of two layers ofcardboard with a layer of resilient foamed plastic sandwiched betweenthem. The hinge 24 is formed by two scores 34 and 35 on opposite sidesof the sheet. These scores tend to compress the foamed plastic layer andto provide fairly flexible bending about the hinge line, whileincreasing the stiffness of the connecting member in the transversebending direction. It should be noted that the main body 13 isconsiderably larger than the connecting member 23, so that the recesseson the main body terminate on their respective sides a substantialdistance from the corners, but, nevertheless, each recess is largeenough to completely envelope one-half (a part 25 or 26) of theconnecting member. It might be said that the cruciform intermediateelement 33 could be formed by placing together two sheets that are thesame size and shape as the outer sheets 31 and 32 and then removing fromthe center of each side a 45° triangle whose base lies on the side, butterminates a substantial distance from each end of the side.

FIGS. 19 and 20 show a support element 37 which is useful in connectionwith the construction system. It consists of an elongated sheet elementmade of the same sheet material as the connecting member 23 which a mainrectangular portion having score lines 42, 43, 44, and 45 which definetriangles at the ends of the same size as the triangular parts 25 and 26of the connecting member. The score lines divide the intermediateportion into three square panels.

The operation and the advantages of the present invention are wellillustrated in FIGS. 8-18. In general, the user is provided with aplurality of the main bodies 13 and of the connecting members 23; withthese he is able to form a number of desirable supporting structures. Ingeneral, two main bodies 13 can be joined in line in the same plane byusing two connecting members 13 with their hinge lines lyingperpendicular to the sides of the main bodies which are being joined;this arrangement is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. FIGS. 10 and 11 show themanner in which two main bodies 13 can be joined with their planes at anobtuse angle. In this case, two connecting members 23 are used but theirhinge lines lie between and parallel to the adjacent two sides of themain bodies which are being joined. FIGS. 12 and 13 show the manner inwhich three main bodies are joined, two of them being joined together inthe same plane and the third being joined at a right angle to the othertwo. In this case three connecting members are used. One of them is notbent and has its hinge line lying perpendicular to the sides of the mainbodies which are to be joined in the same plane. The other two havetheir hinge lines extending in the opposite direction, that is to say,parallel to the edges of the main bodies which are being joined, so thattwo parts 25 and 26 are bent at a right angle. FIGS. 14 and 15 show thejoining of three main bodies 13 at 120° to one another, making use ofthree connecting elements 23. The hinge line in all three connectingelements is parallel to the sides of the main bodies being joined, andeach connecting member is bent at an angle of 120° with each triangularhalf inserted into one of the recesses of the main bodies. FIGS. 16 and17 show the manner in which four main bodies 13 can be joined at rightangles to one another to form a cross-shaped configuration. In this casefour connecting members 23 are used, each one having its hinge linearranged vertically and lying between the edges of the main bodies whichare to be joined. Each connecting member is bent at a right angle withits triangular parts 25 and 26 inserted into the recesses of immediatelyadjacent main bodies. FIG. 18 shows the manner in which five main bodies13 can be joined by eight connecting members to form an open cube,preferably with the open side facing downwardly to provide an upperhorizontal supporting surface. Because it is undesirable to bend twoconnecting members 23 together at a right angle in the same direction,only one connecting member is sued at each joint and the remainder ofthe recess is provided with a filler element 36 which is formed from thesame foamed plastic sheet as the other elements and is in the shape oftriangle of the same size and shape as the triangular parts 25 and 26 ofthe connecting members 23. This filler element 36 serves to hold thesingle connecting member snugly in each of the recesses.

It can be seen, then, that, by use of the present construction system,it is possible to build a wide variety of supporting and displaystructures. Because of the light weight of the foamed plastic-cardboardsandwich, it is possible to store and transport large numbers of theelements without difficulty. Since all of the elements are basicallyflat panels, they store into a small volume of space. Thus, thedisassembled elements are not only light in weight, but small in volume,which are the most desirable characteristics for this type of use. Sincethe material from which the elements are made is relatively inexpensiveand because they can be formed and cut on simple equipment, they are notexpensive to make. Furthermore, one is justified in discarding any ofthe elements that become worn, tattered, or dirty. On the other hand,since it is usual to make the sheet material with glazed outer surfaces,they are easy to keep clean by simple washing and wiping techniques.Because (as has been demonstrated) it is possible to join the panels inalmost any conceivable array, there is a wide range of uses for thepanels that is limited only the the imagination and ingenuity of theuser. For a more permanent connection, it is possible to providefastening pins to lock the connecting elements and the main bodiestogether. Otherwise, it can be seen that it is not necessary to usetools in assembling the structure, nor is it necessary to hire labor atthe point of assembly. The assembly of the construction system of theinvention is not hard physical work, nor does it require any particularmechanical ingenuity. It is possible, therefore, to save a considerableamount of money, because it is not necessary to ship by expensive meansor to incurr the expense of storing, maintaining, setting up, etc. as istrue with wooden display structures.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form andconstruction of the invention without departing from the material spiritthereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to theexact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include allsuch as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new anddesired to secure by Letters Patent is:
 1. Construction system,comprising:(a) a main body formed of a light-weight material having aplurality of sides each of which has a recess, and (b) a connectingmember having hinge line formed by a score on each side and dividing themember into two parts, each part being formed to fit snugly into one ofthe said recesses in the main body, said member being relativelyresistant to bending except along said hinge line, the recess beingtwice as thick as a single connecting member, the main body and themember being formed from a material consisting of two sheets of paperbetween which is sandwiched a layer of foamed plastic.
 2. Constructionsystem as recited in claim 1, wherein the main body is square andconsists of two spaced, parallel sheets between which is sandwiched acruciform intermediate element defining the said recesses. 3.Construction system as recited in claim 2, wherein the cruciformintermediate element having the size and shape derived from a squaresheet from the sides of which are removed 45° triangular portions, thebase of each triangle lying along the side of the square sheet, butstopping short of the corners of the sheet by a substantial distance. 4.Construction system as recited in claim 3, wherein two main bodies canbe joined in line by using two connecting members with the hingesextending between the bodies at a right angle to the joined sides,wherein two main bodies can by joined at an angle by using twoconnecting members with their hinges lying parallel and between thejoined sides, wherein three main bodies can be joined with two in thesame plane and one at a right angle to that plane by using threeconnecting members, wherein the three main bodies can be joined at 120°to each other by using three connecting members, wherein four mainbodies can be joined at 90° to each other by using four connectingmembers, and wherein five main bodies can be joined to form anopen-sided cube by using either connecting members and sixteen fillers.5. Construction system as recited in claim 2, wherein each of the sheetsconsists of two sheets of paper between which is sandwiched a layer ofresilient foamed plastic.
 6. Construction system as recited in claim 1,wherein a support element is provided having two triangles joined by anintermediate portion, each triangle being capable of fitting snugly intoone of the said recesses, the intermediate portion having hinge lines topermit it to be folded into a box-like configuration of triangularcross-sections.